NME TOP 100 BRITISH ALBUMS EVER

[Mike Boom]

100) Derek and Clive - (Live) 1976 *(marked as a forgotten gem.)
99) Patrick Wolf - Lycanthropy 2004
98 ) Roots Manuva - Run Come Save Me 2001
97) Led Zeppelin - IV 1971
96) Adam and The Ants - Kings of The Wild Frontier 1980 *
95) Julian Cope - Jehovahkill 1992
94) The Futureheads - S/T 2004
93) Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets 1974*
92) Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory? 1995
91) The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace 1985
90) Supergrass - I Should Coco 1995
89) Blur - Parklife 1994
88 ) Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman 1993
87) The Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake 1968
86) George Harrison - All Things Must Pass 1970
85) ABC - The Lexicon of Love 1982
84) Redskins - Neither Washington Nor Moscow... 1974 *
83) Wire - Pink Flag 1977
82) The Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches 1990
81) Antony and The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now 2005
80) Black Sabbath - Paranoid 1970
79) Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque 1991
78 ) Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 1992 *
77) The Beta Band - The 3 E.P.s 1998
76) Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time 1997
75) Tricky - Maxinquaye 1995
74) Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation 1994
73) Kasier Chiefs - Employment 2005
72) Joy Divison - Closer 1980
71) Buzzcocks - Love Bites 1978
70) Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription 1987
69) Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure 1972
68 ) The Pretty Things - SF Sorrow 1968 *
67) Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head 2002
66) Elvis Costello - This Year's Model 1978
65) Radiohad - Kid A 2000
64) Gang Of Four - Entertainment! 1978
63) David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars 1972
62) Saint Etienne - Fox Base Alpha 1991
61) Echo and The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain 1984
60) The Human League - Dare! 1981 *
59) The Clash - S/T 1977
58 ) Suede - Dog Man Star 1994
57) The Cure - The Head On The Door 1985
56) Portishead - Dummy 1994
55) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm 2005{In the text this reffered to as a self titled album}
54) Morrissey - Vauxhall & I 1994
53) The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed 1969
52) Madness - One Step Beyond 1979
51) Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry 1986
50) The La's - S/T 1990
49) The Who - My Generation 1965
48 ) Elastica - S/T 1995
47) The Libertines S/T 2004
46) Pulp His 'N' Hers 1994
45) The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free 2004
44) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures 1979
43) The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. 1972
42) The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy 1985
41) Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love 1985
40) Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner 2003
39) Ride - Nowhere 1990
38 ) Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space 1997
37) Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible 1994
36) The Beatles - S/T 1968
35) Radiohead - OK Computer 1997
34) The Jam - All Mod Cons 1978
33) Coldplay - Parachutes 2000
32) The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle 1968 *
31) Massive Attack - Blue Lines 1991
30) Suede - S/T 1993
29) Led Zeppelin - II 1969
28 ) Nick Drake - Bryter Layter 1970
27) Polly Harvey - Dry 1992
26) The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow 1984
25) The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society 1968
24) Pet Shop Boys - Please 1986
23) New Order - Technique 1989
22) Super Furry Animals - Radiator 1997
21) Muse - Absolution 2003
20) The Beatles - Rubber Soul 1965
19) The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come 1987
18 ) Franz Ferdinand - S/T 2004
17) The Streets - Original Pirate Material 2002
16) Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching For The Young Soul Rebels 1980
15) Primal Scream - Scremadelica 1991
14) David Bowie - Hunky Dory 1971
13) The Verve - A Northern Soul 1995
12) The Specials - S/T 1979
11) Radiohead - The Bends 1995
10) The Libertines - Up The Bracket 2002
9) The Beatles - Revolver 1966
8 ) The Clash - London Calling 1979
7) Pulp - Different Class 1995
6) Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish 1993 *
5) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 2006
4) Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks 1978
3) Oasis - Definetly Maybe 1994
2) The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead 1986
1) The Stone Roses - S/T 1989

What a load of old tosh!
Wrong Wrong Wrong in soo many ways.
Its very sad what the NME has become.

[Who Shot Sam?]

They've got to be kidding. Or just trying to be different.

[Mike Boom]

No Pink Floyd?
This Years Model not as good as the Libertines? Number 66???
No Imperial Bedroom?
No Richard Thompson?
No John Martyn?
No Fairport Convention?
Led Zeppelin II?
The Arctic Monkeys?
Village Green only 28??
The Sex Pistols 4 ?
Modern Life Is Rubbish?? The worst Blur album??
Closer 72?
Adam and the Ants?
Who is Patrick Wolf?
No Tommy? No Quadrophenia?

[Who Shot Sam?]

Not to mention nothing by XTC.

The Arctic Monkeys may deserve to be in the Top 100 - someday - but to put them at #5 is ridiculous.

Is there a single Scottish band in that list?

[BlueChair]

Not a single Bob Dylan album on there either. Rubbish indeed

[Who Shot Sam?]

Not a single Bob Dylan album on there either. Rubbish indeed

It's just a British list. Holiday hangover?

[Mike Boom]

XTC indeed.

T REX
Rod Stewart/The Faces
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Squeeze - East Side Story
Genesis
...

[Who Shot Sam?]

I see that there are a few Scottish bands in there - Jesus & Mary Chain, Teenage Fanclub - but surely they are under-represented.

[migdd]

Surely someone in Great Britain made an album prior to 1965!!!!!!

[oily slick]

this is a very funny list. i would not know where to start a critique. it is like someone threw the top 500 in a box, randomly picked out 100 one at a time and just wrote them down.

[Who Shot Sam?]

"Dusty in Memphis" should be on there too. The list goes on and on...

[invisible Pole]

I always knew "Revolver" is only very slightly better than The Libertines' "Up The Bracket". Just needed this proof.

And Arctic Monkeys at 5 is probably the funniest thing I've read this week.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

As mentioned above, few Scots, and barely any Welshmen (and that's not even the Manic's best album), and none from NI (wither the Undertones et al ? ).

I sometimes think that this sort of list should include an age related weighting factor, to prevent recent releases from dominating the chart - although, in this case, that might have allowed Derek & Clive into the top 10!

[miss buenos aires]

What a strange list. Is it supposed to be in order?

[bambooneedle]

It's probably just one guy's CD collection.

[Chrille]

The list seems completley focused on straightforward rock and pop.

[Jackson Monk]

I also note that Radiohead are no longer the greatest thing since U2/REM etc.

OK Computer is ALWAYS in the top 5 normally.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Yes, interesting how it's now orthodoxy that The Bends is The One from the 'Head, with OK Comp second, this very much confirms that. For those not living in the UK, this is clearly a weird list, for me it's largely devoid of surprises in terms of the overall shape and range of items. These lists always include flavour of the month, so no surprise at all that a CD not even released at the time this went to press is in there.

Modest surprises are that the first Streets LP is so much higher than the second, and that Joy Division aren't higher, given their current relative prominence, although Technique is high up there. Astral Weeks is no longer significant. It was best LP ever in 1980 (I kept the list funnily enough!). Interesting too that Hunky Dory is so much higher than Ziggy. Very often there's an element of contrariness in this, e.g. Moder Life Is Rubbish over other Blur (though I would rate the last two LPs over any of the earlier ones myself).

You would never expect the NME to promote the Floyd, just not part of the canon for them. John Martyn and Fairport are irrelevant folkies in this mindset. I'm amazed to see Village Green as high as 28. It's mostly a pretty good list, though overly narrow in its focus, of course, and with some utter dross besmirching it, though at least Babyshambles don't feature.

[ReadyToHearTheWorst]

... though at least Babyshambles don't feature.

I know nothing of these things, but 1st Born informs me that almost none of the Babyshambles CD is new - i.e. Pete had written it all during his Libertines tenure, so he's been treading water ever since. Perhaps, if he doesn't straighten out, his days as a God are numbered.

[Masterpiece?]

Can someone PLEASE explain to me with charts and graphs just what is so great about the Stone Roses? I've heard it, and I just don't feel it. Whenever I see them at the top of a poll like this I think ""bandwagon sheep"...

Not enough Elvis, either. Also, OK Comp is better than The Bends. Good call on The Queen Is Dead, tho.

[Extreme Honey]

What a strange list. Is it supposed to be in order?

Lol. Dear Lord what an awful list!

[hollyh]

Completely baffling to me. First, it makes no sense that the entire Beatles catalog isn't on here, because most of these bands never made an album that could even compare to the least Beatles album. (I also feel the same way about the Kinks but I'm willing to concede that is not an objective opinion.) Also, it's UK-centric in the worst way -- I mean, limiting it to UK bands is one thing, but at least don't include bands that are only listened to in the UK because we Americans refuse to have anything to do with them....

Teenage Fan Club and no Big Sky?
No Ian Dury? NO NICK LOWE??
Leaving out John Martyn, Richanrd Thompson, and Dusty -- DUSTY, for godssake!! -- criminal...

[Otis Westinghouse]

That's a bit paranoid! The list is intended for NME readers, and I assume it's voted by them rather than chosen by the paper's writers, though totally unexpected moves like Modern Life Is Rubbish make you wonder. I don't think they're printing it to wind up Americans! The NME, in case it isn't all that familiar to you, is an Indie-championing teens (mainly) paper that has never (since '76 at least) been into anything hippyish or folkie, unless it's got a cool tag attached, hence Nick Drake. I was addicted to it in 79-82, and yes, it's nothing like the quality read it was then, but it's more of a niche thing now representing a certain core of the music fan populace. Back then the 'quality music mag' didn't exist, and a lot of the mainstay people who now write for Word, Mojo, etc. started out at NME.

Your average NME reader won't even have heard of Nick Lowe, John Martyn, Fairport Convention, etc., other than to possibly be aware of their position on the Old Farts register. Pointless to knock this list for anything other than it being what it is (surprised you're so down on it, John F, isn't it what you'd expect?). Actually, I think it's a pretty impressive list, as such. I own half of these and several of my favourite albums are in there.

I'm interested in the Modern Life Is Rubbish thing. I adore the cover (of a classic old train) and the title, which are over the top enough to suggest a parody of those who hanker for the glory days, but know nothing about it. It's made me want to hear it. I don't like Parklife era Blur much, especially the nauseating title song, and Country House was dire, but I love their last three LPs and imagine I'd quite enjoy this too.

Masterpiece?: some records are transiently fashionable and some get beyond that and attain a permanent sense of legendary cool. Stone Roses are in that category, and it is indeed a cliche to see it no. 1 here. But it could never have got there without being very special in the first place. I heard it first when I was living in Spain, where they were unknown, and came back to England to find they were being raved about to extremes. It was the LP of the moment, the E-generation bible for the 'second summer of love', the one with Madchester as its epicentre. It was a culmination of being the next big thing from that sainted city of musical genius after The Smiths, repeating their formula of the unique front man and the brilliant guitarist, even though Brown couldn't sing in tune as a rule and had none of Morrissey's lyrical brilliance, and also taking the New Order 'guitar tradition meets dance tradition' thing in a new direction. I thought it sounded awful when people played it to me as you probably needed to be living closer to the context to get it at the time, and thought it sounded the way some of the Stone Roses now refer to it as being like Herman's Hermits (like the Smiths denigrating The Queen Is Dead, they weren't at all happy with how it turned out). I got it when I revisited it about 5 years later, and realised it had a handful of classic songs, and was very powerful as a whole. If you've listened and not got it, too bad, but for me the tunes and rhythmic drive of I Wanna Be Adored and She Bangs The Drums are fabulous, Made Of Stone is pure poetry, and Fools Gold is possibly the best white dance music ever. Very little comes close to it for pure musical excitement, I would say. Aural adrenaline. When you're nicely out of your gourd at a party, it's getting late, you're in the zone, and then one of the above comes on, well, it's unbeatable. And it's shared by loads of people in my generation, which gives a moment such as the above a transcendent quality. Of course, they threw it all away through taking forever to release a second album, and when they did it wasn't worth listening to. At the very least, you have to admire the musicianship. Although they came out of the anti-muso indie scene, they had the quite incredible combination of beautiful guitar and one of the best rhythm sections ever, and the coolest front man imaginable (just look at him looking like a perverted angel in those videos, the T-shirt with the pound note motif around the neck adding to the effect, as gorgeous as a lead singer could be, and with the attitude to match). As with The Smiths, it showed that bands could be cool in a post-punk indie way, and still have a combination of talents that went beyond amazing coincidence, harking back to the great line-ups of the 60s like the Beatles, Stones, Who and Led Zep. The fact that they only made one decent record means you could never really argue for their place alongside those names, but it also makes that record all the more unique for it. So I'm at ease with people voting for it and would never refer to them as 'bandwagon sheep'. The album has far too much personal significance to so many people here for that to be the case.

Did I provide enough charts and graphs?

[Masterpiece?]

Certainly did, thank you! Although the cynic in me would attempt to reduce the entire phenomenon to this:

"The Smiths broke up and Manchester needed a new Elvis to stay on the map. And The Stone Roses were the Johnny Bravo to come along at just the right time to fit the suit. Luckily, the one album they hit over the fence is still listenable, so the Emporer can keep his clothes until a true lasting heir is found...one day..."

Not that I believe that in the slightest, but a cynic might. But I do understand how the album can mean so much to so many people. After all, my preference from that neighborhood and era is the Happy Mondays, and believe me I don't want to get into that debate.

Anyway, New Order > all. If for no other reason than lasting so long and still remaining vital.

[hollyh]

Hmm, sorry, didn't mean to imply that these bands were listed BECAUSE Americans don't know them--I must have left out a clause somewhere. Believe me, I suffer no delusions that these folks care whether Americans listen to their bands or not.

And thank you for elucidating all the reasons why NME is now irrelevant.

But ain't it sad that all these English bands fail to make the US radar? I mean, if they are any good? There were 20 years in my life when about 75 percent of the music I listened to was from the UK because it was a) great music, and b) everyone I knew in the States was listening to it too. Then around the mid-80s the cultural swap started to sputter and die. Not only have I have not even heard of many of these 1990s bands, neither has my 15-year-old son (who plays electric bass and is in a band and would no doubt be the NME reader if we lived in the UK). What gives?